Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) London branch has extended its full support to the five-phase protest programme 'Jail Bharo Tehreek' against life sentencing of Kashmiri prisoners, death sentences and subjecting them to the 'worst' kind of torture.

THE AGITATION started on Friday 4th January from the party headquarters at Maisuma, Srinagar in which around 50 activists including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik were arrested and sent to central Jail.

Alleging that India continues to “suppress the genuine sentiments of Kashmiri people”, the JKLF London Branch, in a press statement, lauded the efforts of JKLF leadership by highlighting the much important issue of “plight” of Kashmiri prisoners. “Illegal life imprisonment, death sentence & torture cannot stop the Kashmiri peoples struggle for national independence,” the statement added.

Mahmood Faiz, JKLF London Branch President said that Kashmiris living abroad stand with the leadership of JKLF. “(We) fully support the programme to highlight the plight of Kashmiri prisoners (in various courts).”

Before courting arrest in Srinagar on Friday last, Yasin Malik told reporters that government has opened decade-old cases and started “judicial torture policy” from last one-and-a-half-year. “It makes no sense that authorities are opening decade old cases of the people, who have started peaceful political activities now,” Rising Kashmir quoted Malik as saying.

JKLF was one of the first militant outfits to operate in Kashmir in early 1990’s but the organization renounced violence in 1995 to start a peaceful political movement with majority of its militant commanders carrying activities like fast protests, signature campaigns and peaceful demonstrations.

Criticising the government action to open the cases against various leaders, Malik said: “All the people, who are now carrying out political activities under one roof or other, were members or commanders of the militant outfits. It was a collective transition from violent to non-violent struggle and authorities should respect it.”

Ruing that Indian civil society has completely deceived them, Malik said: “I want to ask them (civil society) what happened to their promise of providing us a space for peaceful struggle.”

Meanwhile, on Monday dozens of activists of the party along with relatives of JKLF leader Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, who was award life sentence by a TADA court in Jammu, courted arrested in Batmaloo area of the Srinagar city in the second phase of the agitation.